


Corn & Circuses

by TheDapperCritter



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Circus, Comedy, Entertainment, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, Friendship, Mimes, My First AO3 Post, My First Fanfic, Romantic Friendship, Woo!, and also
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-06
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:20:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24566017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDapperCritter/pseuds/TheDapperCritter
Summary: A lil' fluffy misadventure set during season 3 of the cartoon, between The Battle for Mewni and Scent of a Hoodie. Hoping to take her, Marco's, and the rest of her kingdom's minds off all the drama that went down over the past few weeks, Star decides to put on a spectacular circus featuring her most dazzling of spells and Mewni's finest entertainers!
Relationships: Marco Diaz/Jackie Lynn Thomas, Star Butterfly & Marco Diaz, Star Butterfly/Marco Diaz
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

The last few weeks had been pretty emotional, to say the least. Finals, dating, saying goodbyes, corrupted magic, losing family friends, hostile takeovers, near-death experiences, hostile rats, bird-things, Septarians—it was a lot for two kids to handle. Even for kids that dealt with interdimensional adventures and teen drama every other day with, like, zero problems. It didn’t help that this might have been the last time these two kids ever saw each other. But neither one of them wanted to think about that now. Right now, they just wanted to make sure they made it through their last showdown alright.

“You’re sure you’re alright?” Marco asked, looking concerned at his best friend.

“For the last time, Marco—yes,” Star assured him. “I appreciate your concern and all, but that’s the eighth time you asked me today, and the twenty-second since yesterday.”

He chuckled nervously. “Oh… Right. Sorry... Just never hurts to check,” he added, hastily apologizing with an awkward smile.

They were sitting at least a foot apart on Star’s bed, awkward but happy to see each other alright after all the excitement. Although Star invited Marco to her old room in the castle, it was still rather awkward for them to be around the other. On Earth, Marco visited Star in her room all the time with no problem. Of course, that was before she had to confess her feelings to him before fleeing and then getting involved in a major family situation. The fact Star nearly died during her confrontation with Toffee weighed heavily on their minds, but not as much as how this situation—however happy or uncomfortable it may be—could be the last time they ever got to hang out with their best friend.

The Butterflies agreed to let Marco stay overnight so he could recover from the excitement at Star’s request. At first, she was just so happy to see Marco again that she thought staying a while longer would be great! Until now as she remembered all the drama they went through and still had to go through. _Well_ , she thought, _if this is the last time I can be with Marco, I should at least try talking to him instead of just avoiding it._

After a long pause she asked, “Are _you_ okay?” Ugh, that was dumb, she immediately thought, chastising herself.

“ _Me?_ ” Marco answered, a little surprised. Star hadn’t asked him in a while, and he was so worried about her that he almost forgot about himself. “Uh, yeah, I guess I’m still okay. You know, for a guy who just lead a resistance, got imprisoned twice, and helped you defeat your mortal enemy. Kinda’,” he added sheepishly.

“Oh, that’s good!” She replied. “Just had to check.”

“Um, yeah.”

_Pegasus feathers!_ It was still awkward.

As they sat there, Marco’s mind drifted back to the night this whole thing started. At the graduation house party he and his family threw. He kept thinking about the moment Star confessed her feelings to him and ran off heartbroken. This wasn’t going to be easy, but Marco decided that if he didn’t talk to her about it now, he might not get the chance.

He took a deep breath and asked her, “So, uh, did you want to talk about what happened at the party? You know, just before you left?”

Star’s heart nearly stopped then and there. She remembered that night in all it’s painful detail, overwhelmed with embarrassment. She racked her brain looking for an answer and went with the best one she could come up with.

“No,” she blurted.

“Yeah, me neither,” Marco blurted as well, embarrassed although somewhat relieved.

After another long and awkward pause, Star took a deep breath and stood up. She did her best to smile, played with her hair nervously, looked at Marco and with what courage she had left said, “Well, uh… Thank you, Marco, for everything. For being there and coming to help us. And I know you’ve been through a lot so, if you want, you can go home and see Jackie and your parents again. If you’re ready, I mean!” she added apologetically.

Marco stared at the floor for a moment. He thought, _What should I do? What about Jackie? My parents? They must be so worried about me. But I don’t want to leave Star like this. She’s been through so much, and she and her family still have to get their kingdom back together. Not to mention I haven’t found where my favourite hoodie went to yet._

“You know what?” He looked up with a warm smile on his face. “I want to stay here for the summer.”

“Wait,” Star said, taken aback. “You want to spend your whole summer _here_? With… me?” She toyed with her hair again hoping to hide her blushing cheek marks.

“Yeah! I mean, why not?” he added cheerfully, standing up. “School’s out, I didn’t have any plans back home, and somebody has to help your kingdom with the damage control.”

“R-really? Wow, that would be… awesome!” She excitedly answered. “But what about your parents or Jackie?”

“Don’t worry, Star! I’m sure they’ll understand. All I have to do is just give them a call!” At that moment, Marco’s heart jumped as he realized something. “Which reminds me, I haven’t talked to my parents or Jackie since I left! They must be worried sick!” He ran out the room then peaked his head back in, slightly embarrassed. “Uh, do you mind if I just hop back to Earth really quick so I can talk to them?”

Star giggled and answered with a smile, “Don’t worry about it, Diaz! You talk to Jackie and your parents while I go talk to mine,” she added with hopeful eagerness.

* * *

“He wants to stay for the whole summer?” Queen Moon asked, a tad surprised.

“Yeah!” Star answered enthusiastically. “I was all ready to let him go, but he insisted. He says he’ll even help us out with getting the kingdom back on its feet!”

“That’s very nice of him, dear. But are you sure it’s the right thing? His parents must miss him dearly, and—as much as we appreciate his help during the Ludo-Toffee fiasco—I’m not sure he’s ready for Mewni.” She added with concern.

The last few days had been just as trying for the Queen as well. Facing her mortal enemy again, nearly losing her family, and the thought of a certain Queen of Darkness escaping from her prison weighed heavy on her mind, as her daughter’s own problems did on hers. Although she thought of Marco as a sweet and responsible young man, she felt guilty about letting him get wrapped up in her family’s dilemma. However, she regretted tearing Star away from her best friend just as much.

“Oh, come on, Moon-Pie!” King River mirthfully chimed in, putting his hand on upon Moon’s shoulder reassuringly. “You saw how the boy’s doing. He’s a resilient young chap—with a good head on his shoulders, too! Why, you should have seen him while you were gone: he got me to act like a real king again, escaped imprisonment, organized a resistance, and escaped imprisonment again! He’ll be fine, dear.”

The Queen paused, deep in thought for a moment. She then looked at her husband and gave him a warm smile and tenderly rested her hand upon his. Turning back to Star, she said, “Alright. If his parents are alright with it, Marco is welcome to stay with us for the summer.”

“YES!” Star exclaimed, jumping with joy “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Mom! Thank you, Dad! He’s just talking to them now.”

* * *

“You’re sure you’ll be alright?” his father, Raphael, asked with gentle concern.

“Of course I will, Dad,” Marco assured him. “I’ve got my dimension scissors, the Royal Guard, and I can always jump back here to restock and visit you guys!”

Marco’s mom, Angie, gave her husband a gentle squeeze on the arm. “Not to mention he’s got Star to look after him,” she added teasingly.

“Mom!” Marco exclaimed, blushing with embarrassment. “But you’re right though, I do,” he admitted with a sheepish chuckle.

“But what about Jackie? It would be a little rude to leave your new girlfriend out of your summer.”

“It’s alright, Dad. I’ve got _that_ under control, too. I’ll just give her a call. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” As he went to use the phone, a sudden guilt came over him. “…I hope,” he muttered, fretting about what Jackie would think of him running off to another dimension for the summer.

As he picked up the phone, Angie gently pulled Raphael’s arm and the two went into the living room give their son some privacy. Neither one of them was very happy about their son disappearing for a week and then coming back to say he’d be gone again for the whole summer, but at the same time, they saw how unhappy he was when Star had to run away. With their trust in their son and his best friend, they decided Marco deserved to spend more time with Star while he could before they had to say goodbye again.

While the phone rang, Marco’s heart raced. It felt like it sank deeper and deeper with every beat into his chest, filling with guilt. Worried thoughts raced through his head. _What will she say? What will she think? She’s my girlfriend, how’s she going to react when I tell her I’m going to run off to spend my summer with another best friend?_ _With_ _another girl?!_ And so on and so forth until Jackie finally picked-up.

“Hello?” her calm, melodic voice asked over the line.

“H-hey, Jackie!” Marco answered with nervous excitement in his voice. “It’s me, Marco!”

“Marco!” her voice perked up immediately, creating a little feedback on the phone. “Babe, where you been? I haven’t seen you in forever!”

He let out a small, nervous laugh. “Uh, yeah. Sorry about that. I really owe you an explanation.”

“Uh, yeah you do,” Jackie teased. But she didn’t sound so carefree when she pressed further, asking, “Seriously though. Are you alright, Marco? The last time I saw you, you looked miserable—and that was weeks ago! That’s like forever for us teenagers!”

His heart sank even further under guilt. He could tell that Jackie was upset by his absence, and that she probably wasn’t going to like what she heard next. Still, the best thing he could do was tell the truth, he told himself, and hope she’d understand. So that’s what he did. He told her everything that happened—Star’s situation, the coup, the rebellion, and the stay. When he finished, there was silence.

“You still there?” he asked solemnly.

“Oh yeah, yeah,” she hastily replied. “It’s just… that’s a lot to take in. Like there was that creepy little bird guy who attacked Star’s home, but it was actually some creepy lizard guy who was behind it, and you started a revolution with a theatre troupe, and Star exploded but… she’s okay now?”

“Yep. Mewni’s like that,” he answered plainly. “So, now that you know,” he drawled with uncertainty, playing with the phone cord anxiously, twirling it around his finger until it was wrapped tight around it, enough so that he was starting to lose feeling in it. “Are you okay with that?” he finally continued. “I mean, if I went on that vacation would you feel left out?”

“Well,” uncertainty crept from her voice. Marco started panicking again, thinking, _this is it—I disappointed her! Broke her heart!_ “This is all so sudden,” she continued with a melancholy calm. “First, Star ran away and now it kinda’ feels like you are, too.”

Marco’s heart plummeted further into his chest than ever before. His palms sweaty as a teenage boy’s could be, pulse pounding away, teeth clenched behind a guilt-ridden frown. He waited for the scathing break-up he deserved. But when she spoke again, she wasn’t angry at all!

“But I can’t say blame you,” she added wistfully. “You almost lost your best friend twice and you still have to say goodbye. I can’t even imagine what you guys are going through right now. So, if you want to spend this summer with Star, I’m okay with it.”

“W-wha- _really?!”_ Marco stuttered, flabbergasted. He had always known Jackie as a laidback girl who didn’t take things too seriously, but this felt ridiculous! Which is something considering the kind of bizarre situations he and Star found themselves in regularly. Uncertain she was fine with this he immediately pressed, “You’re sure you’re alright with that? I mean, if you want, you’re welcome to come with me.”

“Nah, it’s cool, dude,” she nonchalantly reassured him. “You guys deserve all the one-on-one time you can get. Tell her I said, ‘hi,’ alright?”

Still stunned, he nevertheless felt extremely grateful. He excitedly replied, “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Jackie! You’re too good for me! I promise I’ll make it up to you when I get back.”

“Pssh! Just have fun, dude.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, one and all, it's me The Dapper Critter! Again.
> 
> Although we're now in the second chapter, this is still my first ever fanfic so all the kind comments, follows, and favourites you kind folks have given me and my story mean so much to me. I wrote this fic for a friend, so I hope that you're enjoying it as much as they are.
> 
> Now onto the fanfic! If you liked the first chapter and/or the canon, then you'll really enjoy this one! We're still not into circus territory yet, but fret not: we'll be there before you know it. Just sit back and enjoy some fluff and funny business.
> 
> Star vs. The Forces of Evil and it's characters is a creation and thus property of Daron Nefcy, Star's awesome crew, and Disney TV Animation. Not mine. (Just in case you were wondering.)

Star and Marco ran down opposite flights of stairs to meet in the Castle Foyer, both with hearts pounding and full of joy. When they met at the bottom, they nearly slammed into one another, had it not been for Marco’s coordination and cautious mindset. He just caught Star’s wrist before she tripped over herself, helping her regain her balance. Their uncontained laughter and casual dress popped against the stoic royal portrait behind them.

Once this joyful moment passed, Star was giddily jumping up and down, an eager grin spread across her face. “So,” she inquired, bouncing with excitement, “What’d they say? What’d they say?!”

“It’s all good,” he answered, equally ecstatic. “Even Jackie was onboard with it! Yours?”

“Yup! Marco Diaz, you are officially welcome in Mewni for the whole summer!” Star replied, adding her most theatrical welcoming gesture in for full effect.

“Yes!” cheered Marco, doing a celebratory Earth fist-pump. “So, Princess Butterfly,” he coyly questioned, “what’s first on our amazing interdimensional agenda? Goblin Dogs? Photo booth? Cloudy surfing?”

“Marco, I think you’re missing the obvious answer: all of the above!” she declared waving her arms enthusiastically as ever.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Stump Day?” he teased.

And with that the two them went racing off down the castle corridors. Hearts full of happiness, wearing smiles bigger than ever, they were in the moment. Suddenly, there was no drama. No heartbreak. No unrequited love. No archenemies. No crises. There was just the two of them and a multiverse of possibilities. It was just like when Star was staying with Marco’s family on Earth again. No worries, only best friends, and all the fun they could have. But it didn’t take long for reality to catch up to them.

As they passed by the Castle’s throne room in their mad dash of merriment, Star heard the sound of yelling and grumbling from within. She stopped suddenly and took a few steps back to peek in. There was an angry mob of Mewman citizens packed together raising their voices and fists in anger before her parents. The Queen and King were both looking stressed, trying to raise their voices above the mob’s ruckus to answer their concerns. The royal guard was standing in a line between the royals and peasants, spears and shields in hand, just in case this mob got a little too angry and tried to start something.

Marco quickly noticed Star was no longer running with him. He turned around to see she was standing in the doorway on tiptoes, a concerned look upon her face. Seeing this, and hearing the commotion coming from her parent’s throne room, he immediately knew something was wrong. He quickly went back to her side to see what it was. He was about to ask her what was going on, but Star hastily shushed him, too focused to realize she was sticking her hand in his face. Calmly pushing the hand down, he leaned in to see what was happening for himself. But before he could get a good look at the situation, Star quietly snuck into the room.

Worried they’d get caught up in whatever was going on, he quietly called out, “Star! Wait! We can’t just go in there!” But it was no good. She had already grabbed him by the hand and was carefully leading him into the crowd.

She pushed and shoved her way through disgruntled Mewmans as politely as possible, tugging Marco along behind her, who was quietly apologizing left and right for the intrusion.

Now that they were in the middle of the crowd, they could hear their complaints much more clearly. All around them, Mewmans were raising their voices, demanding answers about everything smelling like rats or King Ludo merchandise littering the streets—unfortunate leftovers of the coup from the week before. Some wanted to know if their children would be safe, others how long it would take to rebuild their houses. There were also a few who complained about how recent events had traumatized their precious pet pig-goats. Whatever the problem, it was all being hurled at Moon and River who were looking more spent than ever.

When she finally pushed her way to the front of the crowd, Star jumped before her parents. “Mom! Dad! What’s going on in here?!” she asked, nearly out of breath.

“Hey, back of the mob, lady!” an irritated farmer exclaimed pointing back to the end of the crowd she and Marco had just traversed.

“Sorry, pal,” she returned, “but I’m the princess and I need to see my parents.”

“Well, what about him?” asked another an annoyed peasant mom pointing an accusing finger at Marco.

“He’s with me, thank you very much.” She answered with a mild glare before turning back to her parents, expecting an answer.

Seeing the concern in her daughter’s eyes, Moon decided it was best to be honest with her, lest it weigh on her conscience for the whole summer. “Oh, it’s just a harmless little, uh…” she stalled looking answer that was neither dishonest nor worrying. “Impromptu meeting to address the citizens concerns in light of… recent events.”

“Yeah, like ditching and lying-er, omitting that your crazy daughter lost the Book of Spells! Y’know, that super important piece of the kingdom’s history and one of the most powerful magical objects in Mewni? That one?” heckled one particularly disgruntled man.

“Hey! I heard that,” exclaimed King River. “How _DARE_ you call my little pumpkin crazy,” hopping atop his throne, shaking his fist in outrage. “You want to call my family crazy?! I’ll show you crazy!”

“River!” Moon snapped at him.

“Sorry, sorry.” He climbed down from his throne. “Got a little carried away there.” Though as Moon turned back to Star, he gave the heckler a quick, I’m-watching-you gesture.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie. We’ve got everything under control here. You can go with Marco and leave this to us,” she told her, trying to sound as reassured as possible.

As much as she wanted to believe her mother, Star just couldn’t see past her forced smile, nor the crowd of weary, troubled Mewmans. Nor the ear of corn that her father just barely dodged. Things were not okay. Her kingdom and her family were a total mess. She couldn’t just leave them like this to go goof off again—that would be incredibly selfish! Especially as a princess.

She turned toward Marco, who had been standing close to her—just in case—doing his best to stay out of things and to look as unassuming as possible. Star leaned toward him and whispered, “Marco, I really need your advice right now,” a smidge panicked. “I know you were all excited to start our interdimensional summer vacation thing but… I can’t just leave my parents and my kingdom all janked up while I run around doing whatever! There must be a way I can do both… Right?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t encourage multitasking,” Marco replied hoping to prevent Star from overexerting herself, “but you could be on to something…”

“Seriously?!” she perked up in an elated, but still quiet whisper. “How?”

“You see, on Earth, when there’s a huge disaster like a flood or a hurricane, the most talented people in the _whole country_ come together to put on a big show to lift everyone’s spirits and raise funds for relief and reconstruction efforts.”

Star gasped with wonder. “That sounds amazing! That’s just what Mewni needs right now!” But her enthusiasm fizzled in seconds. “Oh wait. I don’t think my people are in a very generous mood right now. And the last big concert was kind of… controversial.”

“Oh, right. Song Day…” he droned as uncomfortable memories of that day returned to him; when Ruberiot, the royal—and rather obnoxious— “songstrel” pestered them for an entire day then wrote Star’s crush on him and her mistakes into her royal ballad, sparking outrage on Mewni. But he cheered up again almost instantly as new ideas came to him. “Well, it doesn’t have to be a concert, and we don’t even have to charge them! We can do something with your spells for, like, nothing! It’ll be your treat to them.”

“That sounds even better! But what do we do instead of a concert?”

“Good question,” he answered, thinking of other possible spectacles. “It has to be big, fun, maybe a play? A sports game? A circus?”

Star shook Marco excitedly. “Wait, that’s it!” she quietly exclaimed, her mind racing with colourful ideas already.

“No, it’s perfect!” She stopped her shaking to look him in the eyes with a beaming grin and continued, “before I had to leave Earth, I wanted to see a circus with you. Plus, Mewni’s never had a circus before! Parties, concerts, and festivals sure—but never one of those. And it’s perfect for cheering them up: it’s a big, spectacular show where everyone gets to see amazing people and animals do amazing things!”

“Huh, that is a great idea, isn’t it?” Marco replied, creative light in his eyes. “Just think of all the things we could do: laser puppies doing tricks, warnicorn riding, spells juggling…”

“Ooh, ooh!” Star was all in on it. “Maybe we could get our friend to join in! Pony Head could fly through hoops, Kelly could do beast taming with Jorby, Tom could do fire-breathing, Mime and Foolduke might be interested—oh! This is too good. I’ve got to go tell everyone!”

“Uh, Star, maybe we should give this a little more thoug—” but before Marco could finish warning her, Star had bounded off back to her parents side, beaming like a sun on a sugar rush. “What have I done?” he muttered. What was once a simple, nice idea between friends was about to become a proclamation for an entire kingdom to hear. He only hoped she could sell them on it.

Without wasting a moment, Star zipped her way to her parents’ thrones and bounded atop them doing a split, much to everyone’s surprise. There, she raised her hands in the air and declared at the top of her lungs, “People of Mewni!” The mob fell silent as everyone, her parents included, turned their gaze towards the princess making an absolute spectacle of herself. Some were annoyed by this. Other’s—namely the King and Queen—nearly panicked. Most were just confused by the bizarre turn this meeting took.

Now that all eyes were on her, Star made a leaping dismount from the thrones, somersaulted mid-air, and landed ever so gracefully before the crowd. “I have heard your cries of desperation,” she continued with a passionate flare, “and I take full responsibility for your despair!”

“Actually, it’s more like anguish,” one humble peasant at the front of the mob piped up, “but, uh, okay.”

“That is why I want to assure you that me and my family will do everything we can to restore our beautiful kingdom—and it’s people,” she made sure to give the people a charming wink when she said this, “to the former… beauty!”

The crowd seemed to be pleased, and the King and Queen proud, if somewhat confused, of Star’s promising declaration. Seeing this, Star knew she had them in the palm of her hand. They were happy, relaxed. Now was the perfect time for the big announcement. “And to raise your spirits while you wait for us to restore our wonderful kingdom…” she added a dramatic pause for good measure, “it is with great pleasure that I invite you, one and all, to the very first Circus Spectacular on Mewni!” She announced this with bubbly bravado, raising her wand high and releasing a small fountain of pastel fireworks exploding with neon critters and sparkling bubbles.

Everyone around the ecstatic young princess stood aghast. Marco, slightly embarrassed, smiled an awkward smile hoping the crowd would like it, while slowly backing away from them. The mob remained silent. Reactions among the Mewmans ranged from befuddlement to irritation.

Until one curious citizen raised an arm from the middle of the crowd and asked, “What’s a… ‘cirgus?’”

“Is it a horrible beast that eats yer’ crops while yer’ asleep?!” poised a paranoid farmer from the rightmost side of the mob’s front.

“What? No, no, no!” Star hurriedly assured her. “It’s a big, fun, show inside this huuuge tent,” she added making an expanding motion with her arms, “where the most talented performers in all the land come together and do the most amazing things! And it’s all for _your_ amusement!”

“Oh. That sounds fun, actually!” the farmer replied, somewhat relieved.

“You got that right, sister!” Star cheekily responded, making finger guns.

“Wait, wait, wait,” another Mewman interrupted. “What kind of ‘spectacles’ are we talking here?”

“Anything you can imagine, because this circus will be hosted by yours truly!” She answered with swagger, a thumb confidently pointed toward herself. “And not only will I be using my most amazing spells, but I’ll have some very special, VERY talented friends joining the fun! And the best part is… you are all invited, free of charge, this weekend!”

Suddenly, the once angry mob was suddenly whispering amongst themselves with delight. A free show might not be the immediate solution they had hoped for, but it was a pretty good distraction!

“Well, she apologized and we do get something out of it,” one peasant pointed.

“I can’t wait to see what a circus is like!” exclaimed a jovial stablekeeper.

“Maybe they’ll be huge beasts riding tiny little balls for our amusement!” one citizen pondered gleefully. “D’oh, I’m so excited that I can’t even remember why I was upset in the first place!”

“That sounds simply, marvellous, pumpkin!” King river gave Star a hearty pat on the head, full of pride for his daughter’s latest venture. “Can’t wait to see it.” He leaned in and whispered pleadingly, “Please, please tell me you’ll let your dear old dad be in the show!”

“River, please!” Moon barked in frustration. “Star, dear, I understand what you’re trying to do and I can’t commend you enough for stepping in back there, but I don’t think this ‘circus,’” she added while making air quotes, “is the best idea right now. How can we even afford to put on such a thing? We’re already spending a fortune on repairing the kingdom!”

“Not to worry, mom,” Star answered still full of vigorous optimism, “I’ll just conjure up everything under the tent—including the tent—with my all-new wand!” she declared with a twirl, raising her glossy, freshly restored wand; a trophy of sorts that she received after gaining some mastery of magic during the final battle of Mewni. She then quickly lowered it and leaned towards Moon to whisper, “Plus, Marco can cover stuff like snacks and promotions. Long story short: he got this toy deal in another dimension a while back, and now he’s loaded!” She backed away and twirled her wand confidently. “Besides, it would give me a great chance to try it out!”

Moon seemed beside herself. “Are you sure, though? It sounds like a lot to handle after…” she hesitated a moment, “the Toffee incident.”

“Mom, just give me a chance,” she looked at her mother with earnest eyes. “I promise I’ll keep it all under control. And I won’t be alone! Marco and our friends will be there to help out with everything.”

“If I might add,” King River chimed in gently resting a reassuring hand on his wife’s shoulder. “Star’s been through worse. A little show couldn’t hurt. It might be a good leadership practice, too!”

Moon let out a small, tired sigh. She gave her husband a little smirk before turning to Star once more to say, “Alright, alright. You and Marco have my permission. …And your first guests,” she added with a wink.

Star squealed, overjoyed once more. She cleared her throat and regained her mature, but no less cheerful demeanor and said, “Thanks again, Mom, Dad. I promise you won’t be disappointed!”

With her parent’s confidence in her and the big show, Star ran back to Marco, who had relaxed a little now that everyone had warmed up to the circus idea. He ran to her, a smile on his face as well, and they met each other with a high-five.

“Way to go,” he congratulated her, “you had them eating out of your hands!”

“What can I say, I know my people!” Star replied with pleased pride.

“Now all we need to do is start making plans, hiring and coordinating the performers, making seating arrangements…”

“Woah there, Diaz,” she halted him. “I appreciate the enthusiasm—I really do—but this show’s just as much for you as it is for Mewni.”

He gave her a confused look. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“Well, let me put it like this…” she casually strolled around him while conjuring up a large catapult, made of lavender wood decorated with flowery golden embossing, with a flick of her wand, “this IS part of our vacation and I DID promise surprises, and I WOULD hate to spoil them for you, so…” she teasingly drawled as she lead him along to it’s bucket. “Tell you what: you can take care of the little things like seats and refreshments, get comfy at the castle, and leave the rest to me!”

Marco thought this over for a moment. He really wanted to help Star put together the most spectacular show they could imagine, and he was a little worried that she might go overboard. But he knew it would be rude to refuse such a generous offer from his best friend. Before he could answer, however, Star cut him off with a quick and cheerful, “Okay? Okay! Glad we had this talk,” and then proceeded to pull the catapault’s lever. Thus, Marco was sent flying through an open window, screaming for dear life before vanishing into the sky with a quiet twinkle.

Star brought her hand up to her eyes to shade them from the sun as she watched Marco fly off into the distance. “Yup, he’s a natural,” she noted with a grin. “Oh! I almost forgot! Boomerang…” she drew back her wand and swung it forward, shouting, “Throw Pillow!”

* * *

As he went soaring past the Mewni countryside, Marco’s mind raced. He just barely processed what happened back in the throne room. All he remembered was that Star was putting on a circus and all he had to do was see to seating and refreshments. That, and hope that Star knew what she was doing—regarding both the circus and launching him into the air.

Much to his abrupt relief, he landed with a solid poof on a huge blue and white crescent-shaped pillow. It was soft and sweet-smelling, like Star and her wand. With a soft humming noise, the pillow rose up twirling on its own and slowly drifted off back in the direction of Butterfly Castle. Relieved, Marco sunk into the great comfy boomerang with a sigh of relief.

“A giant boomerang pillow.” He let out a little chuckle. “This isn’t the first time Star’s done something like this to me. …or herself,” he thought aloud. “The Battle of Mewni. Running away. Bon Bon and the prom. Well, at least we always come back to each other.” He smiled, getting comfy for his relaxed flight home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, second chapter is DONE! Now that you, the reader(s), and I, the author, have made it through the formalities, we can get to the main event! ...Once preparations are complete, of course. Until then, don't be afraid to leave some constructive criticism or to share this with your friends and fellow fans. (Especially if they're Starco trash too!)
> 
> Write you later!
> 
> -The Dapper Critter


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladies, gentleman, and critters of all ages, the first Circus Spectacular on Mewni has officially begun!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, you folks on AO3 are awfully lucky. Back when I was first uploading this story on Fanfiction.net, it felt like a million years in between when I uploaded this chapter and the last one. You guys just had to wait a few weeks!
> 
> Seriously, though, I'm back and so is my story! I can't apologize enough for keeping you all waiting. Even if it was nowhere near as long as took for me to finish and post this chapter the first time. 
> 
> Anyhow, this is where the show really begins! A spectacle so jam-packed with humour, excitement, and character moments, that I had to split into TWO whole chapters! Where's the other one? It's on the way. *charming wink* Until then, just get comfortable and enjoy the show!

The following week was an interesting one for the people of Mewni.

Soon after Star made her big announcement, she disappeared into her room, spending hours and hours making calls to an undisclosed number of her friends. Then, the next day, a huge tent sprung up in the Mewni corn fields!

It was an average circus tent. Striped tarp, flags on top, etcetera. But because this was both one of Star’s creations as well as the first of its kind on Mewni, the princess gave it a little extra flair: the stripes were salmon pink and sky blue with floral patterns. The top of the tent was lined with golden embroidery and a variety of gems. The ropes holding the tent were gold as well, and the flag on top flew the Butterfly crest in pink against gold and white.

In the days that followed, the tent was the center of attention. Everyday, passersby could hear the sounds of arguing, explosions, screaming, and magical creatures running wild coming from the tent. On some days, Star could be seen getting blasted out of the tent and landing in the corn fields, leaving several princess-shaped marks in the crops. Yet, no matter what ruckus was raised, Star turned away every visit from Marco and her family with a big smile and calm assurance. Though some days she seemed more exhausted than others. Even when the tent burst into flames one afternoon, she quickly extinguished the blaze and the tent and all its props sprang up good as new the very next day.

Star was able to keep her cool all through the week without giving away the smallest surprise.

To keep themselves distracted in the meantime, Marco kept himself busy with seating and foods, as Star requested, while her parents poured themselves into directing the reconstruction of Butterfly Castle and the town. Meanwhile, the citizens of Mewni stayed as far away from the tent as possible—for good measure.

Finally, after much fussing and a few small explosions, the weekend had arrived and with it, opening night!

The big show was about to begin.

Being guests, Marco and the King and Queen were able to avoid the sprawling lines of eager Mewman circusgoers. After he showed the royal couple to their seats, Marco dashed to the back of the tent to meet up with her, as according to their plan.

He pulled back the opening in the tarp ever so slightly and poked his head into the dimmed tent. He cleared his throat and called out to her.

“Oh, Star…”

“Marco!” she exclaimed, popping out from the darkness.

Marco let out a yelp and stumbled back. Embarrassed, he cleared his throat and straightened his posture.

“I’ve escorted your parents to their seats—as per your instructions—and I just came to make sure you and… whoever’s back there,” he peaked around to stare into the inky darkness inside the tent, still in the dark about Star’s plans, “are all ready to start the show.”

“That’s perfect! Because I’m ready, too,” she ecstatically replied as she gently pushed him away from the tent. “All I have to do now is escort you to your seat, my guest of honour.”

“Wow, thanks, Star! That’s so—GYUH!” he let out another yelp as Star Took him by the hand, running him back to his seat.

They burst through the tent’s entrance, dodging the lengthy line. Although they thought it rude, the Mewman folk were too busy getting their hopes up for the imminent spectacle, and good seats, to care. That and they knew better to get in the princess’s way.

Wiggling, shuffling through the circusgoers who had already found their seats, Star lead Marco up to a furnished seat located in the center of the benches. It had Prussian blue velvet cushions and gold buttons and a hefty wooden sign reading, “RESERVED FOR MARCO DIAZ, VIP” sitting in the middle, which Star quickly vaporised it with a quick flick of her wand.

She sat him down with a happy declaration of, “and here’s your seat!”

“And here’s your refreshments!” Beaming, she conjured up a great huge pile of popcorn, goblin dogs—a special non-hallucinogenic kind Marco made Roy the Goblin Dog goblin agree to—candy coated chocolates, licorice sticks, and two medium soda cups. Marco was just barely able to wrap his arms around the heap of snacks.

“Uh, thank you,” he was both burdened by and grateful for the special treatment he received.

“Aw, don’t worry about it! I made sure you have every one of your favourite snacks _and_ soda. Just enough to keep you full, but not to make you sick. Just the way like it! Oh, and before I forget…”

She held up her wand and produced a thick rainbow-coloured cigar into her other hand. Without a word, she popped it straight into Marco’s mouth.

Startled by the unexpected appearance of a cigar—in his mouth, no less—Marco was mighty anxious when he asked Star, “Uh, Star… Why am I suddenly smoking a cigar?”

“Oh don’t worry, Marco. It’s just a trick cigar! All that’s in there is magic, sparkles, and glitter,” she counted out the ingredients on her fingers without a care. “One-hundred percent non-hazardous to your health! …well, in the sense that it’s safe to breathe in, but not that it won’t explode any moment. Because it might.”

Marco stared back at her in a silent panic. That wasn’t much more comforting.

Star quickly changed the subject, trying to break the awkward silence. “I got the idea from a cartoon I saw back on Earth. Neat, huh?”

He managed a nervous laugh. “Oh! Yeah, t-that’s fun! I guess…” He didn’t want to spoil Star’s fun, but admittedly he wasn’t sure if what she put in the cigar was any better than what people put in their cigars back on Earth.

Before had a chance to ask her what sort of “tricks” the cigar was for or why it might explode, she gave him a quick pat on the head. “All good? Good! Kay’, I gotta go get the show stared. Thank you so much for helping, Marco! I’ll see you in a little bit! Enjoy the show~!”

Star waved to him as she ran off with breakneck speed and enthusiasm.

As she ducked through the tent’s opening, the lights went dim as the tent closed up. Now in total darkness, the crowd was practically giggling with excitement. Anticipation could be felt all throughout the tent’s inside.

Then, a spotlight came on with a flash overhead, swinging its light to the entrance. The curtains pulled back by an invisible, delicate force from across the floor. A drumroll sounded with the sound of an electric guitar creeping in. The tension rose until out from the curtains came Star, now in a costume of her own creation, standing atop her faithful stead, Cloudy the flying cloud friend, accompanied by brilliant trumpet fanfare and a soaring keyboard riff.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” she announced, holding her top hat down. “Children of all ages… Welcome to the first ever… Magnificent Mewni Circus Spectacular!”

She stood proudly atop her smiling pink cloud, soaring over the heads of the astounded audience. Her usual casual dress—a blue top with a small gown and striped leggings—was replaced by a navy blue ringmaster costume, no doubt conjured by Star herself, complete with black boots, opera gloves, and a top hat with a pair of white horns sprouting from the white ribbon. Tying it all together was her characteristic beaming smile and glimmering blue eyes.

“Now, let’s start this show off with…” she pulled her wand from out behind her, “a BANG!”

With a swift sweep of her arm, the wand let loose a bright red laser, screaming dead straight for the tip of Marco’s cigar. Before he could even react, the laser struck it and in the next instant, a shrieking fireball went shooting into the ring which turned to a firework with a brilliant pop. And then another and another! Marco’s trick cigar was shooting fireworks of all colours in small yet striking blasts, giving him a slight jolt each time one popped off.

“Laser Puppy Light Show!” Three small puppy dogs promptly popped out of the wand in a flash, safely landing at their mistress’s feet. From their sparkling little eyes came six crimson beams shooting into the air spelling out, “WELCOME TO THE SHOW!” in bright shining letters.

With another wave of her wand, the puppies disappeared back into the wand. Then with a twirl, she called, “Glow Hog Firework!” Out came a glowing pink pig with a curly fuse in place of a tail. The little piggy rocket’s tail lit up and it shot towards the sky with a squeal before exploding into pink and red fireworks in the shape of cute little pig faces.

The music soared! The crowd was dazzled! Marco, though a little shaken by the fact that he was biting a cigarette that just launched fireworks under a tent, was smiling full of pride as he watched his best friend having the time of her life.

Star looked on with eyes full of joy at the ecstatic crowd. Keeping the energy going, she gave her a wand a twirl, waving it in a great serpentine motion and called out, “Paper Dragon Summoning Charm!”

Slowly, a mighty dragon’s head emerged from the wand’s glowing faceplate. Now free from the wand, its massive body danced and coiled, slowly winding its way out into the air. A serpentine line of swinging red and green paper lanterns strung together all moving in perfect harmony.

Star made a great leap from Cloudy to its head as it passed her by. Striking a perfect landing. She gave the dragon a scratch behind the horn, then a whistle. With a deep rumbling roar, all the lanterns in the beast’s body lit up one by one from the tail. When it reached its head, the lantern dragon let out a mighty burst of golden flames!

This marvellous display elicited gasp of astonishment from the crowd.

Its job done, Star sucked the lantern dragon back into the wand in the blink of an eye. Now falling through the air, the crowd gasped again, on the verge of panic. The rambunctious ringmaster, however, somersaulted through the air serene as ever. She opened her eyes and thrust her wand out before her.

“Warnicorn… Promenade!”

There, just below her appeared two mighty grey warnicorns to break her fall. Sticking a perfect landing between the two fearsome magical steeds. She grabbed hold of their reigns and gave them a jolt with a hearty “Giddy up!” Her warnicorn mounts reared up, kicking their legs, flashing their rainbow-coloured teeth as the neighed, then set off in a mad gallop around the ring. Passing the crowd in a blur, she waved to her adoring audience dazzled by the princess’ feats.

After another lap round the ring, Star gave a gentle tug on the reigns. “Woah!” she soothed the horned stallions, bringing them to a stop in the centre of the ring. “That’ll do nicely, boys!” With that, she returned them to the Wand.

Finishing up her big opening act, she twirled around in place until she was on one foot like a ballerina—in a coat and top hat. Holding her wand out, she declared with bluster, “Narwhal Fountain!” She brought her herself to a stop, striking a dynamic pose holding her wand over. From it, a geyser of light and water burst forth, and with it a surge of little blue narwhals splashing and flipping around in the fountain, giggling and squeaking.

So astounded was the crowd, that every single of them stood up and gave a round of roaring applause. _And to think that just a few days ago these folks were ready to riot_ , Marco thought to himself.

Sucking the Narwhal fountain back into her wand, Star took a bow ever so graciously. “Thank you, thank you! You’re a wonderful audience!

“And let’s not forget to give a round of applause for our guests of honour,” she gestured over to center of the seats as the spotlight followed overhead, “Queen Moon and King River!” From their royal-looking custom-made emblazoned seats, the Royals gave a modest wave wearing smiles full of pride.

“Aaand for my best friend, coming all the way from the Earth dimension… Marco Ubaldo Diaz!” The spotlight swung over to Marco’s seat, faithfully following Star’s charismatic direction. Marco himself was looking a little shaken, trying to straighten himself out after having fireworks set off right in front of his face. When he noticed Star called his name and the crowd’s attention was on him, he hastily sat up straight and gave an awkward but sincere little smile.

“I’d also like to thank our local songstrel, Ruberiot for kindly accepting the offer to score our show!” The spotlight shone by the edge of the ring on a fair-skinned man with dashing red hair atop his head and on his head, all dressed up in shimmering white and silver suit with an indigo cape, puffy sleeves, and snow-white boots. He held a pearly white guitar—his pride and joy—and stood before a stand of sheet music and a small band dressed in black and indigo.

He bowed, grinning and full of bravado, thanking the audience for their rousing applause. “Oh, thank you, one and all! Especially, you, Princess, for letting me share my musical genius with the good people of Mewni once aga—”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah, it’s no problem, just stick to the script this time. M’kay, buddy?” Star interrupted him with sunny firmness. She didn’t want to seem rude, but she was NOT going let a repeat of the Song Day fiasco into the show.

“Uh… Yes, your majesty.” He answered with a meek bow before returning to conducting the score.

Star hopped back atop Cloudy and turned her wand into a megaphone. “Now for our next special guest and our first act!

“He comes from the depths of the Underworld… Feared by the undead and living alike… Fire is but a plaything to him. He’s the one and only… Tom Lucitor: The Fire-Breathing Prince of Demons!”

Star flew aside and the spotlight went out. A circle of fire sprung to life in the center of the ring. The drumroll intensified as an eerie otherworldly chant filled the air, sung by an unseen choir of—what most presumed would be—the lost souls of the underworld.

Suddenly, a pillar of fire erupted from the ring, accompanied by the sound of bellowing of organ pipes, stopping _just_ below the roof of the tent.

From within the pillar, three glowing white eyes opened and around them formed a silhouette of a horned teenage boy suspended in midair. The pillar died down and the spotlight returned to life, revealing the full form within it, still hovering with eyes glowing bright and eerie. When he blinked however, his eyes ceased their glow suddenly taking a much more human look. A humble smile was spread across Tom Lucitor’s face as he gently drifted to the ground. He landed and took a bow.

In the spotlight his once ominous figure was now very warm and friendly. His pale pink skin, head of fiery red, and ivory horns glowed in the light. Normally, Tom liked to wear a dark slightly torn-up t-shirt with skinny jeans. For the performance, however, he decided to wear just the skinny jeans.

His reason for doing so was quickly revealed when Star conjured a pole with two of wads of cloth attached to each end and tossed it to him, caught it twirled it before him and set it alight with a snap of his fingers.

He tossed the flaming staff from one hand to another twirling it round and round as he went. The flames glowed bright at both ends forming glowing trails as he deftly swung them around his body.

Riding the high, Tom signalled for Star to toss him another pole. She obliged and another staff went flying toward him. He caught it without breaking a sweat. Swinging each end toward the other, he was now spinning two flaming batons round and round!

He danced with each spin, graceful as can be, twirling himself as expertly as he did his batons.

With a sudden stop, he took the ends of each baton one at a time and put them in his mouth. He tossed them aside, took a deep breath, and with a surging motion, he blew a tremendous ball of fire into the air! It hung in the air shining a bright warm glow on the audience before it turned a deep crimson. The flames shaped themselves into a huge three-eyed skull.

The skull briefly spoke in a deep rasping voice. “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS!” With a wink and smile, the flames vanished.

The audience burst into rousing applause. Aside from a few alarmed children and parents, the first had received an excellent response. Star clapped and hollered with the crowd, and Marco with them.

Tom bowed. “Oh thanks, you guys!” he welcomed their applause eagerly yet humbly. Despite his demonic nature, including some explosive anger management issues, he was a gentle and friendly soul who did his best to make friends. So when Star—his ex-girlfriend—invited him to join her show, one could imagine his enthusiasm.

“Aw, it was just average demon stuff and a couple weeks of exotic dance classes—nothing special.

“Oh! And this one goes out to my good friend, Marco.” He took a small breath and spit out a small fireball straight towards Marco.

Marco winced, nearly jumping out of his seat, but the fireball exploded in a quiet little puff of flame just in front of him, relighting the magic cigar. Tom winked in his direction, making finger guns. Marco let out a gasp of relief and sunk into his chair.

As he walked away, the spotlight returned to Star as she and Cloudy returned to the ring. “Very impressive, Mr. Lucitor!” She quietly whispered to him, “Thanks for not making it too intense back there.”

“Pssh, don’t mention it! But if you ever want to do something freaky, I’m—”

“Hahaha, very funny. Don’t read into it, remember?” she bluntly retorted.

Star returned her attention to the crowd. “Alright folks, now that you’re all _WARMED UP_ , it’s time to bring in some local talent!”

Once again, the drumroll began. “You know him. You love him. You have to follow his every decree whether you’re a citizen or his daughter… Please give it up for our very own King River Butterfly!”

The spotlight slid right up to shine on the royal’s special seats. Fanfare played with a classical, rollicking tone as the bearded king stood up, placing his foot atop his chair’s arm majestically as possible. He then tore off his royal attire to reveal a sparkling periwinkle leotard beneath before flexing and posing charismatically, just because he could.

Moon, rather perturbed by all this, demanded an explanation as politely as she could. “River?! What—what on Mewni are you doing? What’s happening? Where did you get that outfit?!”

“Not to worry, Moon Pie. It’s all part of the show! Be right back…” With that, he promptly made a leaping dismount from his seat, somersaulting through the air and landing square in the centre of the ring with a puff of dust and a hearty laugh.

Star applauded. “A perfect landing, da—er, your majesty! Now, you fancy yourself as a strong man, yes?”

“I do indeed, pum—ahem, madam! Why you could say I’m… THE STRONGEST KING ON MEWNI!” To compliment this mighty declaration, he did another few flexing poses.

“Well, then you wouldn’t mind giving your loyal citizens a little demonstration then?”

“Not at all! Give me your best shot!”

The drums rolled once again, now with a hefty bass thrown in. Star readied her wand as River backflipped into position. The king slapped his biceps to signal his readiness. A beam of light flourished from her wand and a great huge set of dumbells appeared over his head. He caught them with a slight grunt which quickly turned to a hearty, “Hoo-ah!” as he proudly lifted them over his head. The audience applauded their rambunctious king.

He tossed the dumbbells over behind him nonchalantly. “Alright, that was a good warmup. Now give me a real challenge!” He beckoned Star with cocky little give-it-to-me gesture.

Next, she conjured a heavy pig-goat. The king grabbed the placid swine beast and heaved it over his head like it was just a piglet-kid. Another round of applause and fanfare sounded for the mighty king!

The king, however, seemed rather bored.

“Come on, we both know you can do better than that!”

Another flash from the wand, this time a great pink snail with a lime green shell, little dove wings, and a goofy smile landed in his grasp. He buckled but with a heave and a grunt, he held the magical cephalopod over his head, grinning like a madman.

“Okay, that was cute, but I want to get serious here!”

Star fretted. “Uh, are you sure, your majesty? We’re almost done. We don’t have to go overboard.”

“Nonsense! It’s the first circus in Mewni! Go big or go home, I say!”

“Well, alright…” She reluctantly raised her wand and conjured a larger than average narwhal. It flopped on top of the snail’s shell, but River lifted the magical creatures above his head like they were almost nothing.

“More!” the King barked.

Another flash from the wand. Now he held a pink snail, a turquoise narwhal, and a full-grown warnicorn standing atop it.

“MORE!” His eyes popped, sweat ran down his face.

The drums surged as Ruberiot added a suspenseful melody on his guitar. Now the pig-goat and the snail from before stood atop the warnicorn who stood atop the narwhal.

“A rehash? Puh-lease! Give me MORE!” Perhaps it was a midlife crisis-speaking. Maybe he wanted to impress his daughter, or his wife, or his citizens—maybe all of the above. All that was certain was that when King River was serious about something, he was _very_ serious about it. He may have been royalty, but he was a wild man at heart, and he wouldn’t stop until he reached his limit.

Star knew this well. There was nothing she could do but finish this act off in spectacular fashion—hopefully without hurting her father in the process…

She waved her wand and from it burst another narwhal, a barrel of corn, a goat-minotaur beast, and finally a great set of dumbbells with 1 TON painted on either weight held by said beast.

As this colossal pile dropped into his hands, the King was suddenly on one knee, grunting in pain and sweating profusely.

Star gasped in fear along with the crowd. Marco sat up, fearing for his friend and the father of his best friend. Queen Moon jumped out of her seat, scared out of her wits, preparing a levitation spell to save her husband from being crushed.

But the old king would not bow to this burden. He wouldn’t let silly old age or gravity get the best of him. Trembling, he found the strength to heave the great pile over his head to stand on both feet. Finally, he held the mountain of weights over his head laughing as heartily as ever!

The crowd congratulated him with the thunderous applause. Star, relieved, wiped the sweat from her brow and joined the applause. Marco and the Queen meanwhile sank back into their seats, relieved as well.

When Star disappeared the weights from her father’s grasp, he was absolutely ecstatic. “Hahaha! That’s right, I still got it! I still got it! Who’s your king? _Who’s your king?!_ ”

Star politely interrupted him. “Okay, yes that was very impressive, your majesty! But I think you should take a well-deserved rest and maybe enjoy the rest of the show with your wife, m’kay?”

“Oh,” River was a touch embarrassed. “Yes. Of course, I should probably go… over there and… uh, take it easy. Let you kids do your thing.” He walked off to fetch his replacement robes and return to his wife’s side to soothe her nerves.

Star returned to her announcing duties. “So far, we’ve had talent from Mewni soil and below it, but our next performer comes from above!” The spotlights turned to tent’s roof searching for the next act as Star grabbed a cue card from her top hat. “Ladies and gentlemen, give an extra warm welcome to the high-flying, hilarious, super hot…?” She squinted at the cue card in confusion. “Okay, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to announce that. Please welcome, Princess Flying Pony Head of the Cloud Kingdom!”

A shrill valley girl voice rang out, “AW YAS! You know what it is!”

A pink and teal blur shot past the somewhat alarmed crowd. The searchlights were in a frenzy trying to keep up with this boisterous speed demon, only catching a trail of sparkles.

_Oh no,_ Marco thought. A primal fear suddenly gripped his entire being. _She didn’t. Star didn’t invite HER did she?_

Finally, Pony Head stopped in the centre ring, confidently floating by her “BFF,” Star. She was aptly named: a floating unicorn head with a teal coat, a pink mane, a dark green horn, heart stickers on her neck, little stars for pupils, and no body whatsoever. However, being a member of Pony Head race, she defied all known laws of biology and survived just fine with nothing but a vapid mind and a vacuum within her neck that stored everything she needed, leaving only a trail of sparkles behind. But such bizarre biology did not matter to her. What did matter was having all eyes on her.

She wasted no time introducing herself. “Yo, what up, peasant boys and peasant girls? Yes, it’s me: ya’ girl, Pony Head. I am SO honoured to be here tonight. I heard about what y’all have been through this past, uh… three weeks—or whatever—and it just BREAKS my _HEART_ knowing what’chu poor people have been through. Thoughts and prayers for y’all. HashtagMewniStrong. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to my channel!”

“Uh, Pony,” Star politely tried to interject. “I told you this isn’t going on the interne—”

Pony carried on unfazed, “So, tonight I’m going to be doing some acrobatic stuff for y’all. A little flying, some hoops n’ stuff, maybe a lil’ a target practice if ya’ want…” She winked a mischievous wink in Marco’s direction.

Marco, all too familiar with Pony Head’s reckless, rather destructive antics, went rigid. He hoped and prayed Star would keep her under control for the show. He also wished there was something real in the trick cigar for his nerves.

“Ahem,” Star cleared her throat, politely reasserting her role as ringmaster. “Yes, that’s exactly what I had in mind for tonight. So. Whenever you’re ready, Ms. Head!”

Pony Head cracked her neck—an impressive and somewhat disturbing feat for a floating unicorn head. “Alright, B-Fly. Let’s do dis!”

Pony Head took to the air with swiftness and sass. Now that the lights were on her, the astonished crowd could see the flying feats were on her, the astonished crowd could see the flying feats of fancy with no problem. She zipped back and forth under the tent, leaving sparkling contrails behind her.

Below her, Star conjured a small fleet of bright yellow rings. “Not bad! Now let’s see how well Madame Pony can really fly…”

With an upwards swing of her wand, the rings soared up into the air. There they scattered across the tent before hanging in midair.

Pony Head grinned. If there was anything she loved more than helping her friends, it was herself—that and showing off just how amazing she was in front of large crowds eager to praise her.

One by one, she flew through them, bobbing and weaving, loop-de-looping, and twirling with her signature sassy style.

“What agility! What grace!” Star appraised her disembodied equine friend. “But… can she fly AND fire?”

One wry flick of Star’s wand and a few of the hoops turned into disks with bright red and white target signs.

Pony Head eagerly accepted the challenge. “Oh, it’s on, gurl!” A pale light snaked its way to the tip of her horn. With a shimmer and a ringing sound, a laser beam shot from her horn and hit a target dead center just as Pony Head made a sharp night where it once hovered.

Another loop-de-loop and ZAP! She blasted a bullseye between the two rings she just flew through.

One by one she took out her targets. Each shot accompanied by a fancy flying trick—a corkscrew, a U-turn, or the odd barrel role—and a sly wink or kissy face.

Marco was so engrossed in her feats of fancy that he didn’t notice one stray beam coming screaming towards him until it struck the tip of his cigar, setting off another small blast of fireworks and giving him a fright.

“Hey,” he called her out in agitation. “Watch where you’re shooting!”

“Oh, I am! It’s called audience participation, Marco. Roll with it!”

He gave her a glare.

Pony Head stopped midair. “Alright, alright, I’ll give you some warning next time. … _Whiner_.”

Star and the audience saw her off with a round of hearty applause. “Now that was some fabulous flying, huh folks? In fact, I think I’ll give a try myself! Take five, Cloudy!”

“Okay! See you later, Sta—” she abruptly sucked the little cloud back into her wand just after hopping off.

“Before I take flight, I just need a quick pick-me-up.” She coyly turned around, adding, “I think I’ll just drop by the snack bar and grab me some… Marco Diaz!”

She twirled back around and let loose a huge pink rubbery hand from her wand that stretched waaay over the seats and over to Marco’s chair then snatched him up. It snapped back and went flying towards Star in the spell’s firm grip, yelping. It stopped to drop him off beside her then vanished back into the wand.

Marco looked up at Star in confusion, stunned and dishevelled. “Uh, Star, what is—?”

Before he could ask what she was up to now, Star put a gloved ginger to his lips and shushed him. “Not to worry, my friend. We’re just going for a quick ride and then you’ll be back in your seat in no time! Now let’s get started!”

With her wand held high she cried, “Rocket Ride Blast-Off!” and a great big firework appeared in a periwinkle puff of smoke, instantly strapping itself to her back. “Marco, could you light the fuse thing-y with that real quick?” She asked him, pointing at the cigar.

He picked the wick up from off the ground. “Oh this? Uh, sure…” He removed the cigar from his mouth—just to be safe—and held tip of it up to wick. It sprang to life the very next second, sending him jumping back with start. He nearly dropped his cigar in surprise before he popped it in back in his mouth, lest it hit the ground and explode into a huge fireball or something, he thought.

As the magical spark raced up the fuse, Star grabbed Marco and held him tight.

“Hold on, Marco! We’re going for a ride!”

Too panicked to register what was going on, Marco instinctively wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Three.” He shut his eyes as Star eagerly counted down.

“Two.” The audience held their breath, watching the spark shoot up into the rocket.

“One!”

A jet of fire roared from the rocket before it suddenly, unexpectedly died down, and its place, a huge plume of dark blue smoke exploded, blowing the entire tent apart and covering everyone under it in powdery black soot.

Star and Marco stood in the center of the ring, stunned. When the smoke cleared, the audience was silent for only a brief moment before they all started coughing and complaining.

Star, as well as Marco, was a little shaken up by the spectacular backfire of her last spell, but she didn’t waste a second to get back on the audience’s good side. “Whoops! Looks like I put a little too much powder in that spell! No to worry, though. I’ll have y’all cleaned up in no time!”

Taking her wand out once more, she held it high and shouted, “Make-Up Blast Cleaning Brigade!” At her command, a flock of green-and-pink bright-eyed smiling butterflies came fluttering out from the wand’s light. They descended upon the crowd, cleaning them all up and giving them a bonus touch up in the process. In a matter of minutes, the angry sooty crowd returned to their tidy, easily impressed selves.

Breathing a sight of relief, Marco finally let go of Star. “Oh well, too bad. On to the next act, I guess!”

But just as he was about to walk off, Star grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. “Woah there, Diaz! I’m not done with you _quite_ yet. Why don’t you stick around while I introduce our next guests?”

“Oh… alright. I guess it couldn’t hurt.”

Smiling, Star returned to the show. “Our last act may have gone up in smoke, but I guarantee our next one will lighten things up! Let’s hear it for the wackiest woman in the royal court… Foolduke!”

The spotlights zipped back to the entrance while Ruberiot conducted a peppy little organ-grinder tune as Foolduke came somersaulting into the ring in all her jangly glory.

Foolduke was a friendly gal with blonde hair, dark skin, and brown eyes. Although she dedicated herself to comedy, her nervousness and lousy luck always interfered with her acts.

“Hidy-ho, folks!” she greeted the crowd. “Thanks a bunch for making it to our show!”

She briefly turned to Marco and hastily whispered, “Especially you, Marco. Sorry again about the whole ‘making-you-a-martyr-figure-against-your-will’ thing. But I’m sure you’re over that by now, right?”

Marco, who was NOT entirely over almost being turned into a martyr figure against his will while he was stuck in a dungeon with the other performers during the Battle of Mewni, smiled and simply said, “Ah, don’t mention it! … _Please_.”

“Haha, cool,” she chortled. “Anywho, I’ve got a great routine in store for the audience tonight. It was a little tricky though, cuz I used to practice it with my old monkey, but he ran away. But now I got a new monkey who’s ready and rearing to go!”

She turned to the tent’s entrance again. She gave a whistle and hollered, “Monkey Two! Showtime!”

Silence.

Foolduke laughed sheepishly. “Just a tick, folks!”

She put her fingers to her lips and whistled then yelled in a much more demanding tone, “MONKEY TWO! SHOWTIME!”

Still, no monkey.

Foolduke stood there, anxiously waiting. Star and Marco gave each other an embarrassed look, both feeling kind of sorry for her. The crowd meanwhile looked on as their anticipation waned.

Frustrated, Foolduke let out a small growl and stormed off behind the tarp. She came back out dragging a rather portly orange monkey, grunting as she went while the monkey remained stubbornly limp. The two of them made it to the center ring after an awkward minute of grumbling and dragging.

Foolduke paused to catch her breath. “Okay, now that you’re here, my primate partner, let’s get going!”

She whipped out a metal hoop from behind her and held it in front of the monkey. “Come on,” she beckoned it. “Jump through the hoop! Just like we practiced!”

The monkey sat up, looked at the hoop and… looked the other way, totally disinterested.

Sweat started to bead on Foolduke’s forehead. “Not in a hoop mood today, huh? Well, let’s try out your ball! I know you love your ball!” She whipped out a rainbow-coloured beach ball from behind her next, tossing it over to her lazy primate pal.

The monkey did not love the ball. So, devoid of motivation, the monkey laid down and lazily scratched his belly.

With their patience gone, the crowd started booing them viciously. A few even started pelting their corn cobs at Foolduke.

Star started fretting again, trying to devise a way to keep the show going before she lost her audience.

“Oh, bravo! Bravo!” Mocked Ruberiot from the side, clapping slowly. “I didn’t think it was possible to fail _UN-spectacularly_ at something, but then you showed up, dragging your pot-bellied primate behind you.”

“Hey, he’s sensitive about his weight!” Foolduke shouted back.

“Oh really? He doesn’t seem too bothered about it. Then again, he probably lost all respect for himself once you put him in your silly little excuse for a performance!”

Insulted, Foolduke scowled. “Well, at least I’M actually in the show—not stuck in a box on the sidelines playing conductor!”

Ruberiot glared at her. “What’s _that_ supposed to mean?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! You must not have been able to hear me over your raging ego! Let me repeat myself. You aren’t even in the show, you _dingle_!”

He gasped in shock. The crowd, Star, and Marco gasped with him.

“How DARE you!” He vaulted over the side of the music section, then stormed toward her in a huff. “At least, I’M actually giving the audience a performance instead of wasting their time!”

“Did you actually come all the way here so you could literally say that to my face?” She smirked, hands on her hips.

“You bet I did!”

“Well, if you would get out of my face, maybe I could actually give my audience a performance instead of wasting my time on a heckler with a two-bit musical career!”

“WHAT?!” Ruberiot was blushing with fury.

“Oh, come on,” she rolled her eyes, “you wrote one Song Day song and it was a controversial disaster. Now you’re composing glorified background noise that everyone will forget about by tomorrow!”

“Why you… I oughta… I oughta,” Ruberiot was practically growling with rage now. His fist clenched and teeth gritted, he raised a shaking fist up to her face, and in a moment of pure spite, he FLICKED one of the bells on her fool’s crown.

The bell let out a harmless little ring, which was followed by another wave of gasps from the crowd.

Star panicked. “Oh boy, okay, this can’t end well…”

Foolduke staggered back in shock. Ruberiot, now much calmer that he took out his anger, stood tall feeling quite pleased with himself.

“Ha! How do you like that—” his gloating was cut short by a dead fish to the face.

Ruberiot stood in stunned, slime-covered silence as Foolduke slung the fish over her shoulder looking proud as ever.

The crowd sat back, also shocked. Then from somewhere within the vast crowd came a chuckle.

“Wha—did—how,” Ruberiot stammered in offended confusion. “You hit me with a FISH!”

“Uh-huh,” she replied, a sly smile on her face. “Halibut, actually.”

Another chuckle escaped the crowd section.

“Wuh-uh-I-I am _respected_ artisan! You can’t just subject me to your crude antics like that!”

“Sure I can! Here, watch.” Foolduke took another swipe at Ruberiot with her fish, hitting him with another slimy slap to the face.

More laughs. Foolduke wasn’t the only one enjoying Ruberiot’s humiliation.

“Oh, so that’s how it is?” Ruberiot glared as a mischievous smile crept across his face. He plucked the feather from his bard’s cap, then lunged at Foolduke’s face. He wiggled it furiously, tickling her nose.

Foolduke let out a startled, “AH!” Followed by an “Ah-ah-choo!”

“Not so high and mighty now are you?”

“Seriously? I’m a JESTER, dummy! Getting humiliated is part of my job! You, on the other hand…”

Foolduke took another wild swing at Ruberiot. But this time the songstrel ducked. Then he made another lunge at her, this time at her underarms.

She yelped, losing her grip on her scaly slapstick weapon.

“Ah, cut it out!” she begged in between giggles.

“Not until you apologize!”

“How about I do _this_?” She whipped out a squirt flower and sprayed a small jet of water at Ruberiot.

He just barely dodged it. He stayed mostly dry, but his feathery quill got soaked limp. Ruberiot grunted in dismay.

The crowd, however, was thoroughly amused with their antics. The laughter of the many Mewmans had reached a rousing roar. All across the rows of seats, circusgoers were holding their sides, slapping their knees, even falling out of their seats from the force of their laughter.

Marco leaned over to Star. “You wouldn’t happen to be using your magic for this, would you?”

“Actually, no,” she smiled at him. “They just think they’re really funny together!”

“Can’t say I blame them. Think it’s time to break them up and get things back on track?”

“Yeah, I think that’s enough out of them for one day.”

Star casually stepped in between the opposing entertainers. “Alright, alright, that’s enough, you two.

“I think it’s safe say to say that you’re BOTH great entertainers,” she directed their attention to the half-applauding, half-hollering crowd around them.

“Huh,” Foolduke looked on astonished. “Did we do that? …together?”

“I think we did,” Ruberiot followed just as awestruck that he entertained an audience without playing a single chord. “You know, maybe you aren’t such a bad comedian after all.”

“Thanks! …I guess. We make a pretty good team, actually.”

“You know, you might be onto something.”

And so they shook hands, turned to the audience, took a bow and walked off together.

Monkey Two sat up groggily, looked around at his noisy surroundings, shrugged, and waddled off behind his mistress.

The spotlight returned to Star.

“Now that we’ve lightened the mood, I think I’ll _cut_ to the chase and _turn up the heat_ with our next guest…”

Star ceased her pun-filled announcement and directed the crowd’s attention to a spot of empty space on her left. The spotlight highlighted nothing until a scissor pierced the air with an orange glow. It ripped upwards leaving a trail of strange orange energy, which then expanded into a swirling portal with a fiery glow.

“She’s the forger of all dimensions scissors… She’s a member of the high and mighty magical commission… She’s even been known as an adventurer, and now she’s our next guest… She is… Hekapoo!”

With a whooshing sound from the portal and spicy fanfare, an orange white figure leaped from the portal. The figure landed with cool-headed poise, looked over her should and gave the crowd behind her a casual wink.

“Hey,” Hekapoo nonchalantly greeted them.

The crowd answered with clapping and whistling.

There she stood in the spotlight. A mystical sultry, almost demon-like creature, Hekapoo always had an air of swagger about her. Her skin was covered in a velvety white fur, which formed spiky bristles on her arms. Her hair was a rich auburn colour flowed down to her feet, part of it done up in a black spiked ring at the back. Her bangs covered one eye while the other was a warm amber colour. Her dress was like a bright plume of fire with mahogany boots. From her head sprouted two fierce horns deep yellow and orange-red at the base. She also wore a black tiara and from it her famous candle like flame, the source of her mystical abilities, flickered.

She approached the princess ringmaster and her guest of honour. “Sup, Star. Sup, Marco,” she gave him a flirty look. “Or should I say, ‘ _Muscles_?’”

“Hekapoo.” Marco replied a touch flustered. “Or should I say I say,” he arched his eyebrow, “ _H-Poo_?”

“Don’t call me that!” she snapped. The fire atop her head and in her eye briefly flared.

Marco and Hekapoo had some history together before the circus.

It was a bit hard to explain but, not that long ago, Marco had gotten himself in trouble with the magical mistress when he unknowingly used her dimension scissors—which at the time he and Star thought were a perfectly legitimate gift from Pony Head and not something she compulsively swiped while Hekapoo was in the bathroom at a club—to give himself a lazy day. He then ended up going on a quest she set up in which she created and scattered countless clones of herself across the multiverse, catch them, and earn his own pair of scissors. Due to the abnormal flow of time in certain dimensions, Marco ended up spending 16 years on his quest, became a man and skilled warrior adventurer, and nearly started a fling with Hekapoo herself. It wasn’t until Star found out where he was and convinced him to go back home with her, at which point he reverted back to a normal sixteen-year-old boy with only his memories left.

It was all very complicated and no on really liked talking about it—least of all, Star.

Star butted in with an anxious forced laugh. “Very cute, you two, but remember: we’ve got a schedule to keep,” she added in an impatient whisper.

“Alright, alright, don’t get your wings in a twist, Butterfly.” Hekapoo sneered in annoyance.

She turned to face the crowd again, “We’ve got a real treat for you tonight, folks! Our _gracious guest_ will be showing us a few tricks you can do with dimension scissors. Besides opening portals to other dimensions, of course. Show us what you got!”

“With pleasure, your _highness_ ,” Hekapoo replied with sarcastic graciousness.

The spotlights were on her. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and and set her stance. The magic mistress opened her eyes. A feisty smile was on her face.

She pulled out a handful of dimension scissors, crafted just for the show, and tossed them up into the air. They flew up, up, and then down, down, down again, their blades heading straight for their forger. But while the crowd watched with sudden anxiety, Hekapoo stayed calm, not flinching once. She caught each scissor as it fell then tossed it back up into the air, doing them same with the rest of the blades until she was juggling them all!

The audience clapped in approval as she calmly tossed in three more scissors—without fumbling a single one.

Star clapped. “Not bad at all!”

Hekapoo smiled back, “Ha, I’m just getting started…”

She pulled her hands away and the wheel of juggled scissors stopped in midair. Pausing to take in the crowd’s astonishment. Satisfied, she snapped her fingers as her flame flared. Suddenly, all six scissors were suddenly were suddenly aflame. Hekapoo, cool as always, held out her hands and the wheel of scissors resumed their rotation as she serenely juggled on.

Being part fire elemental as well as the forger of dimension scissors such as these, flames and molten metal were no big deal for her.

Awed by the Magical High Commissioner’s skill and the hypnotic glowing ring of fire and metal she so deftly handled, the crowd rewarded her with a round of applause.

Marco joined in, clapping as well. “Wow! You’re doing great, Hekapoo!”

“Oh but, Marco,” Star slinked up to him, gently grabbing him by the arm. “You haven’t even seen the finale yet!”

“And now,” Star hollered into her magical megaphone, “the enthralling Ms. Hekapoo will conclude her act with the help of my good friend, Marco!”

“Oh boy,” he stepped back, sweating and giggling apprehensively again. “Uh, what? What are you doing?”

Star answered by creating a big colourful target sign with four straps on what looked like a human outline made of dotted lines.

“Oh, nope.” Marco looked unamused. He already knew what was coming.

“Yes! You’ll be fine.” Star leaned by him and pleadingly whispered, “Trust me, we practiced this dozens of times backstage.”

Marco gave a sigh, hardly relieved. “Okay. I’ll do it.”

Star thanked him with a squeeze and a smile. She then yanked him off his feet, bringing him before the target. “And now, the lovely young Marco will volunteer and strap himself to this target board, leaving him COMPLETELY HELPLESS as Hekapoo finishes her scissor-throwing act—by throwing them RIGHT AT HIM!”

The crowd gasped in anxious excitement, then cheered them in regular enthusiastic excitement.

Hekapoo turned her sly eyes toward Marco and teasingly asked, “Ready, Diaz?”

Marco paused for a moment, now secure in his binding before throwing his hands up.

“I guess!” he irritably answered.

Hekapoo’s juggling intensified. The ring of flaming scissors burned and turned at a furious rate. She focused on the bright red rings behind the Earth boy, her hands tossing and catching on instinct. She grabbed one pair of blades and, rather than automatically catching it, she grabbed it and tossed it straight at Marco!

It flew through the air with a fiery bright tail and landed right next to his right shin with a woody “THUNK!” sound.

Marco yelped, though he was completely fine.

Hekapoo resumed her juggling, visibly pleased herself and then…

FWISH!

THUNK! “Eep!”

Another pair struck the board by Marco’s left elbow.

With exact precision, she steadily flung four more scissors at the board landing by Marco’s foot, side, hand, and armpit. By the fourth one, Marco managed to steel his nerves so he didn’t sound scared when they hit.

The last pair landed in Hekapoo’s hand. Focusing on the target, she smiled, her eyes narrowed. She twisted the scissors in her hand. Readied her shot. Drew her arm back and flung it with all her might!

Marco clenched his teeth and shut his eyes as the flaming blades flew straight at him…

THUNK!

He could feel the warmth of the magical fire on his face but thankfully couldn’t feel any blades in his head. Marco opened his eyes and _slowly_ turned his head right.

The scissors landed just a couple of inches from his face, slicing the ashes off the tip of his cigar.

Marco heaved a sigh of relief and went limp.

The crowd rewarded the high stakes act with cheers, applause, and whistling, now wilder than ever thanks to the intensity of the performance.

Hekapoo bowed, all full of smug satisfaction. “Nice work, Diaz! Let’s do this again sometime.”

Marco answered with an unamused glare. “Hard. Pass.”

“Meh,” she replied, walking offstage. “Your loss. Hey, Star. Can you get me one of those cute little cigars?”

“Sure, why not!” Star shrugged and summoned up another rainbow-coloured cigar in Hekapoo’s hand.

“Paper Dragon Summoning Charm, would you give her a light, please?” The head of the great paper lantern dragon popped out of the wand, blowing a stream of fire. After touching the tip of the cigar to the stream of fire, she returned the dragon back to the wand, and let the cigar shoot off a few fireworks before handing it to Hekapoo, eliciting a few claps of applause from the audience as well.

Hekapoo waved her hand and the scissors dislodged themselves before flying back to their master. She walked up to Marco and touched the tips of their cigars together, helpfully relighting it for him. The magical wad released a few fizzy fireworks in mock celebration.

“Hey, Marco. One more thing,” she turned back to look at him with a wink and a smile. “Shoot for the stars.”

The target board holding Marco disappeared in smoke along with its binds, and Marco landed on the ground with a thud and a groan. Star raced back to his side and helped him to his feet.

“See? I knew you could do it!” she gleefully congratulated him. “Now, let’s get you back to your seat so you can relax.”

“That would be… nice,” he breathed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If this were a real circus, I guess this would be the intermission. (Circuses do have intermissions, right?)
> 
> I hope you're enjoying the show so far, folks. Rest assured, there's still plenty of fun to be had at the Mewni Circus Spectacular before the big finale. While you wait for our show to resume, now would be the time to go use the bathroom, refill on refreshments, and if possible, catch up on sleep.
> 
> Meanwhile, I'll be hard at work getting the finale chapter ready for you, my lovely audience, to read!
> 
> Write you later!
> 
> -The Dapper Critter


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last of the acts and the big finale to the first-ever Mewni Circus Spectacular!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Manical laughter* At long last! The impossible dream has come true! Sorry to keep you all waiting, but now you can finally sit back and relax. Because the grand finale is about to begin!

Star summoned Cloudy once more and hopped on holding Marco up in her arms.

As they drifted up to his seat, Star asked him, “So, you enjoying the circus so far? It’s not getting too—y’know— _intense_ for you, is it?”

“What? No!” Marco answered. “I mean, it is a little more… engaging than I expected but look at how much fun everyone is having! Trust me, I’m fine, Star. Just keep the show going.”

Star thanked him with a big hug. “Aw, thanks, Marco!”

Cloudy hovered just over Marco’s seat, allowing him to hop off back to the safety of the audience section.

Star grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him with an eager smile. “Oh, and if you like the show so far, just wait until we get to the finale!”

But before a somewhat-excited, somewhat-nervous Marco could ask for clarification, Star had already zipped off on Cloudy back to the ring, announcing into her wand-turned-megaphone.

“Now, let’s be honest, folks—that last act was _pretty_ intense! But we’re almost at the end of our show and I guarantee that we’re going to go out with a bang! So, we’re going to wind things down with our next guest…”

A spotlight weaved its way to the outer ring as Ruberiot conducted the drumroll once again.

“She’s the monochrome mistress of mute performance from Mewni with the most talent and the least lines… Please welcome our next guest… The Mime!

The drumroll ceased as the spotlight swung to the edge of the ring, and the sound of a melodious Mewnian accordion took its place. A lavender glove reached out into the spotlight and grasped the air like a rope. Then, another glove on the end of a black-and-white sleeved arm gripped the invisible rope, pulling forward a gaunt woman in full mime make-up and garb. She gave the rope a yank and it went limp, allowing her to wind it up and take a bow.

The Mime whipped her hands up to her ears, ready to bask in the warm welcome the audience would give her. But she heard no such cheers of joy from the crowd.

In reality, miming was high art—even in other dimensions such as Mewni—and sadly like in ours, high art often goes unappreciated. This was especially true in Mewni which, despite being rather ahead of its time for a medieval society, didn’t go for more avant-garde performance arts.

This would not stop The Mime, however. If the Mewnian people didn’t appreciate the art of miming, she would make them appreciate it!

She strode towards the crowd in a huff but bumped into something after only taking a few steps. She stumbled backwards, then shook her head. She scrutinized the space in front of her, looking for what she hit.

Reaching her hands out, she appeared to be feeling something. A wall! She ran into an invisible wall!

Unfazed, she shrugged and turned right to walk around it, only to hit another wall.

This got a few chuckles from the audience.

Annoyed, she turned to her left and stormed off.

…Into another wall.

Shocked and rather confused, she felt all around her to look for an exit. But found herself trapped—in what else—an invisible box!

Refusing to let her brilliance be contained, The Mime searched her ingenious mind for a solution, making her best thinking pose as well.

Suddenly, an idea! She gave a big smile, snapped her fingers, reached behind her back, and whipped out some invisible tool. She gave it a bend, her arm shaking it as it sprung back into shape, then started cutting through the invisible wall of her box.

“Oh, I get it: it’s a saw!” Marco helpfully exclaimed in amusement. “Ha! That’s cute.”

The rest of the crowd seemed to think so, too. A few seemed to be happily whispering to each other, so proud of themselves for getting The Mime’s act.

Now finished sawing, The Mime kicked down the wall and came somersaulting out. She unrolled in a victorious pose: down on one knee, arms spread out, and a big smile on her painted face.

The audience gave a meager round of applause for her novel performance. It was cute but it still wasn’t exactly circus material.

She took her beret off to take a bow, when suddenly, a fierce wind nearly snagged it from her grasp! At least, that’s how it looked.

The Mime held onto the staple of her iconic look for dear life. Teeth gritting, she held onto it, pulling it back with every bit of strength in her body. She silently heaved against the gale force she conveyed. So dedicated was she, that her feet dug into the ground as she trudged along. She would never surrender!

Finally, with one enormous, silent heave, she placed the beret back on her head, ever so delicately.

But before she could savour this victory, yet another harsh wind apparently overtook her, sending her tumbling across the ring. Marco and a few audience members winced as she, obviously, threw herself across the ring with the force of a hurricane!

The Mime stumbled back to her feet. She whipped out something else. She popped it open to shield herself from the wind, revealing itself to be an invisible umbrella! But judging by how she was almost pulled off her feet, the phantom gale had already inverted the imaginary umbrella and blew it out of her hands.

She fell to her knees gripping the ground. Her fingers dug into the dirt as she slowly raised her legs in the air behind her, giving the impression that the wind could carry her off at any moment!

This feat of theatrics and gymnastics had gained more than a few audience members’ admiration.

The make-believe wind would not cease, and The Mime knew she was losing her grip. But she refused to let go!

The wind seemed to have become a cyclone now. It looked as though she was about to be pulled right from the ground! Her legs went up, up, up until she was completely vertical! Her left hand lost its grip. Now she was both gripping the ground _and_ balancing with one clutched hand!

It looked as though it was all over. But then The Mime’s expression changed from a desperate intensity to joyous enlightenment and proudly raised a pointer finger.

She grabbed something from her waist and slammed it into the ground with her left arm. It was a stake! And now she held onto it for dear life with her hands, balancing ever so carefully on her fist.

After what felt like an eternity of struggle, that phantom gale died down. Finally, the Mime’s body gently lowered back onto solid ground with a slight thump.

Like the artist and professional she was, she calmly got up, dusted herself off, and took a bow as the audience gave her the uproarious applause she deserved.

“Wow,” remarked one astonished Mewman. “I’ve never seen such lower body strength in a performer!”

“Or such grace and balance!” Commented another.

From his seat, King River turned to his wife beaming. “That’s our Mime! I should really give her a raise…”

The spotlight followed the Mime out as she waved to her adoring public accompanied by that playful accordion piece.

Star saw the Mime off with a wave and returned to her ringleading duties. “Wasn’t she great, folks? I guess you could say actions _do_ speak louder than words!”

A rimshot echoed, provided by a quietly disgusted Ruberiot.

Nobody was amused.

Embarrassed, Star cleared her throat. “Well, you’ve obviously had enough comedy for one night, so why don’t we get back to the action?”

“Our second-last act is the WILDEST… WOOLIEST… WHIP-CRACKING… -est thing you’ve ever seen! It’s ma’ good friend, Kelly!”

At first, the only thing that came out from behind the tarp was the head of a teenager with fluffy green hair, big round glasses, and brown skin.

She greeted them with a peppy wave and a smile. “Hiya! I’m Kelly, and this…”

She disappeared back behind the curtain. The came a great purple-reddish furred beast like a wolf, finned ears, and two horns in front of two larger branched horns, bounding and sprinting into the ring.

“…Is my riding partner, Jorby!” Kelly announced.

“What’s up, Mewni?” The lupine beast casually greeted the crowd.

Kelly leaped off her friendly stead, waving to the crowd.

Kelly was an adventurous girl, always travelling to other dimensions, training in sword fighting with Jorby, and always trying new things. She was also laidback and a very friendly person to know. She had only joined Star and Marco’s friend group a few months ago, but since then she started to join their misadventures a little more frequently. She was good company to have, she enjoyed joining them on their misadventures, and it helped her take her mind off her fights with her deadbeat boyfriend, Tad.

For tonight’s show, she wore a glittery periwinkle leotard with silver accents, white riding boots, and for extra flair, had slung a maroon leather holster holding her best sword over her shoulder. As always, she had her fluffy flowing green hair done up so that shew looked like a normal girl—as opposed to a walking topiary bush.

Star welcomed the pair with a short round of applause. “Happy to have you with us tonight, Kelly! You too, Jorby. So, ready to give this crowd its wildest act yet?”

“Heck yeah I am!” she replied, ready to jump into action. “Are you, Jorby?”

“You know it!” The canine creature readied to pounce into action.

“Now stand back,” Kelly gestured Star to back away. “It’s time for the professional to take the floor!”

With that, Kelly unsheathed her blade and took a hefty swing, assuming a sword-fighting stance, spotlights shining over both.

Overhead, Star floated by on Clody, megaphone in hand. “Now don’t worry, folks. Everything you are about to see has been practiced over and over again to ensure that no performers—animal or otherwise—will be harmed during our next performance! …Just so you know.” She added with a wink. “Alright, guys. Take it away!”

Not wasting a moment, Kelly and Jorby charged at each other, screaming battle cries at the top of their lungs. Their spotlights tracking them closely. They leapt to meet each other, Kelly with sword raised and Jorby with teeth bared!

But instead of coming to blows, Kelly threw her sword like a dagger. Jorby responded with lighting-quick reflex, twisting out of the way and catching it by the hilt in his teeth!

Kelly landed and turned to applaud him. “Good boy!”

Jorby happily trotted back to her, his tail wagging behind him. He dropped the sword at her feet.

The audience was quite pleased as well, giving him a bit of applause.

Jorby graciously bowed his head. “I knew they’d like that one!”

Kelly picked up her blade and sheathed it once again. “Then they’re gonna’ love the next part. Ready?”

“Always!” The canine beast crouched again.

But rather than pouncing, he let Kelly jump onto his back. She then pulled herself up to his head. She took hold of his horns, and with a peppy, “Hup!” and did a handstand on them effortlessly.

The crowd gasped in astonishment.

“Don’t worry, folks. I don’t feel a thing!” Jorby reassured them.

“Now,” Kelly clicked her heels together, “giddy-up!”

“You got it!” At her behest, Jorby set off on a mad dash around the ring.

Atop his head, Kelly held tight to his horns. Then, she shifted her balance and swung herself right side up. Using Jorby’s horns like parallel beams, she tucked and kicked and swung her legs, keeping them together, and keeping her hands moving. She was performing gymnastics on a moving wolf beast, perfectly balanced at that!

Tucking her legs in again, she released his horns and let herself tumble backward onto Jorby’s back. Then she grabbed hold of his body with her hands and thighs.

“Woah there!” she commanded.

Jorby reared up with a mock howl and came to a stop in the center of the ring. Kelly rewarded him with a scratch behind his fins.

She slid off his back, back down to solid ground. She waved to Star and hollered, “Hey, can we get some props over here, please?”

“Not a problem!” The royal ringmaster sent out a bubble of magic zooming down from her cloudy stead to meet them, which manifested as an exceptionally large teal ball with fuchsia polka dots.

“Thanks!” Kelly waved back. She directed Jorby’s attention to the top of the ball. “Okay, now hop on!”

“You got it!” Jorby obediently pounced on the great ball. Without another word, he steadied himself then started walking on the ball, rolling around in circles around his master.

Once again, the crowd was delighted by Jorby and Kelly’s charming act.

“You think that’s good?” He paused, teetering on the ball. “Watch this!” Now standing up on his hindlegs, he continued to roll around, staying perfectly balanced the entire time. “Look, two paws! As opposed to four!”

“Looking great, buddy!” Kelly called out, giving him a thumbs up. “Ready to wrap things up?”

Jorby rolled up to her on his ball. He stood as steady as he could on two legs atop the giant rubber ball. Balanced and ready, he looked Kelly in the eyes and nodded.

Kelly met his glance and nodded back. She ran to the other side of the ring, a spotlight following behind her. She crouched, readying to launch herself. She squinted, focusing on Jorby atop the ball. Her breathing went deep and steady. The drums rolled as Ruberiot played an elevating riff on his guitar.

Then, in a burst of speed, Kelly sprinted across the ring, her bushy green hair flowing behind her. She leaped toward the ball, sending herself bouncing up into the air. Ever so gracefully, she flipped in midair, as if she had jumped off a diving board and…

And…

Stuck a perfect landing on Jorby’s head!

“Ta-da!” They declared in victorious unison.

The crowd practically jumped out of their seats whooping, clapping, thoroughly impressed by the daring dos of Kelly and Jorby’s dynamic duo act.

Kelly was graciously bowing when a piece of hair seemed to suddenly fall off, landing on Jorby’s snout with a startled, “Oof!”

Kelly stared with displeased disbelief at the lump of mint green fuzz in front of her. “What the—Tad?!”

Eyes, a little mouth, and two small feet popped out of the pile of hair. It really was Tad! The same deadbeat boyfriend that Kelly had an unpleasant relationship with.

“Oh! Uh, hey, Kelly! What brings you here?” The strange little lump wiggled his eyebrow.

Suffice to say, he was anything but charming.

Kelly picked him up, staring daggers at him. “Tad, I thought I told you I needed some alone time!”

“You did! I just heard you were gonna’ be in a show so I thought I might come along and offer you some emotional support and—”

“Did I ask you to do that?”

“No.”

“Did you do anything supportive?”

“Well… no.”

“Did you at least get your admission?”

“No, but isn’t this show free?”

“It is. But my hair _isn’t_.”

“Is it though?” Tad gave her a charming smile.

“NO.”

Done with Tad’s freeloading, she dropped him like a rock and punted him off somewhere into the audience section with an undignified scream.

With their act finished and the fuzzy layabout dispatched, Kelly and Jorby happily rolled off on their ball backstage.

The spotlight returned to Star and Cloudy once again, and once again she made a grand announcement to the audience with her megaphone wand. “Well, folks. We’ve had a lot of fun here tonight, but it’s time we wrapped things up and got back to our lives.”

The crowd let out a collective “Aww…” of disappointment.

“…Which is why we’re going to end this show with a real BANG!”

The audience’s enthusiasms returned to life.

Drums rolled while the spotlights swept back and forth over the eager audience.

“We saved the very best for last, ladies and gentlemen! One final special guest in a surprise act—he’s the bravest man I know. He’s fought by my side more times than I can count…”

Marco’s heart skipped. _Wait_ , he thought, _she couldn’t be talking about me, could she?_

“A master-in-training of the martial arts, as well as a pretty awesome dude in general… He’s the mightiest, smartest, safest, and bravest boy I ever encountered during my travels on Earth... Please welcome, our final guest of honour: Marco Diaz, the Karate Cannon Ball!”

The spotlights finally ceased their search, their blinding glow centering on a shocked Marco in his seat. Like a deer in headlights, he sat there paralyzed with panic. His cigar drooping out of his mouth, held open in shocked gasp.

The crowd whistled and cheered him on for his non-consensual bravery.

He barely managed a confused, “Wuh…” before he felt someone grab him from above. He looked up to see Foolduke’s grinning face looking back at him. She was hanging upside down with The Mime holding her by the ankles, herself upside down as well. The two of them were suspended by a trapeze that seemed to have magically appeared— oddly enough.

“You heard the Princess, you’re up!” The two performers hoisted him up from his seat with another yelp out of him. They swung through the air with speed and force.

With another yelp from Marco they flung Marco through the air on the swing back, sending him hurdling into Kelly and Jorby’s reach.

Jorby leapt into the air and Kelly caught Marco in her arms. “Break a leg, bud!” She tossed him to Star’s side in the center ring with a smile.

Marco landed with an exasperated “OOF!”, getting up with a groan.

Star gleefully helped him back to his feet, dusting him off. “We gotta stop meeting like this, Diaz!”

“Star, I don’t want to sound rude but,” Marco threw his arms up in the air, “WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!?” Up until now, Marco had been a little on edge from the excitement he’d been put through but was having fun. Now, however, he was looking completely stressed out. His eyes were open wide in panic, his hair was sticking up everywhere after he’d been thrown around, and he appeared to have the faintest signs of sweat stains on his hoodie.

Star shifted awkwardly, looking away, scratching her arm. She seemed to be a little ashamed of herself. “Uh… Yeah, sorry about all that, I was going to surprise you, but I also hoped you’d pick up on the, um… y’know, clues?” She shrugged, trying for her best apology-smile.

“Clues?” Marco gave her a baffled look.

“Like the catapault?”

“Wait, that was—?! Ugh,” he dragged a hand over his face. “Right, of course it was.”

“Don’t worry about it, Marco! You’ll make a great human cannonball! Now, hold still, I got to get you into your costume.”

“Wait, what costume—”

Star conjured up a custom-made outfit for Marco with a shot of magic like a fire ball. Glowing white with a trail of orange and red, it jumped off Star’s wand and onto his body, bursting into a puff of orange glitter.

Marco now found himself wearing a white jumpsuit decorated with red dragons, a red belt, white boots with flame decals on the toes, and a white helmet with a headband around it. He looked himself over in bewilderment. Glancing at his back, he noticed a black circle on the back of the jacket, lined with flames, and the words “Brave Cannonball” in the centre written in crude Chinese lettering. Marco couldn’t tell if he looked kind of cool or completely ridiculous.

_Both_ , he figured.

“Oh. This costume.” His withdrawn bewilderment showing through his comment.

“You look so cool! Now, I just gotta’ grab this…” Star snatched the magic cigar from his mouth, which had managed to miraculously stay in place even after all the excitement. She tapped the ashes off the end, exposing the glowing pink embers within. Holding her wand out, she cried, “Amazing Ornate Closing Cannon!”

In another flash of magical light, a massive pearly white cannon materialized, held in place by purple quartz placements. The mouth of the cannon had lacy golden patterns like a delicate explosion effect. Daisies, pansies, and violets painted on its sides. A long, long silvery fuse winded from the back of the cannon to their feet.

Star turned back to Marco, looking all full of pride and ready for action. “Alright, now hop in!”

However, Marco wasn’t having any of it. “Star, I don’t think I can do this. I’ve already had several flaming projectiles thrown at me. I’ve been grabbed, thrown, tossed, and I’ve had a cigar full of explosives in my mouth this entire time!”

He looked down, overcome with stress. “Star, I know you want to make this show as fun as magically possible, but this is starting to feel… a little too dangerous for me…”

Star could see his concern, and she could tell he felt guilty for trying to back out. Her friend was scared for his safety and knowing everything he’d been through—not just in the show—it donned on her that maybe she was taking these thrills a little too far.

Dropping her ringmaster persona for a moment, she breathed a sigh.

Resting a gentle hand on Marco’s shoulder, she looked him in the eyes, a caring look on her face. “Marco, I understand you’re freaked out. I admit,” she winced thinking back on the more intense acts, “I might have gotten a little carried away coming up with the ‘greatest show on Mewni.’ But I want you to know that I never stopped thinking about you—ugh, wait, that came out weird…”

Marco chuckled a little, slightly relieved. “It’s okay, keep going.”

“Phew! Thanks,” Star smiled. “What I mean is I’d never do anything with you if it was too dangerous. Everything that’s happened I only did because I thought you’d like it. And if anything went wrong, I _promise_ you that I would keep you safe.”

Marco relaxed a little. “So, if I got sent flying at high speeds over Mewni, you’d catch me?”

“Absolutely.”

“And if I caught on fire?”

“That’s why I made your suit fireproof!”

“Oh!” He gave his outfit an admiring second glance. “Cool! But if I explode?”

Star gave him a playful push. “As if I’d make a cannon to blow up my best friend!”

They shared another moment of joyous awkward laughter. Marco doubled over with relief while Star held him up.

“Come on, Marco. You know I’ll always look out for you.” She took her arm off his shoulder. “…Which is why if you’re still scared, you have my full permission to back out.”

“Seriously?! But who’ll replace me?”

“Meh,” Star shrugged. “I’m sure one of my spells is up for it.”

Marco took a moment to look inside himself. He thought about Star’s words, all the times Star came to his rescue when he was in trouble. The many backyard brawls with Ludo’s gang of monsters, when one goon got lucky and grabbed him, Star would help. When they broke in and out St. Olga’s School for Wayward Princesses, Star rescued him from being brainwashed by the evil headmistress, Miss Heinous. Even just last week, when she saved him from a dungeon.

Marco had already made up his mind.

“You know what? I’ll do it!”

Star eyes lit up again. “You’re sure?”

“Positive!” He adjusted his helmet. “Besides, you promised everyone that you’d end your show with a bang, and I’d sure hate to disappoint an entire kingdom!”

Star, overcome with joy, thanked him for his bravery with yet another great big hug. “You’re the best, Marco.”

He squeezed her back. “Anytime, Star…”

They then remembered they had a show to do and quickly backed away from each other with a few “Um yeah’s” and “Okay, it’s cool’s,” trying to change the subject.

“Well, don’t keep the whole kingdom waiting—put me in, ringmaster!” Marco put his arms out, assuming an action-ready position.

“Oh right! But first…” Star leaned close to him and whispered, “Shoot for the stars, buddy.” She was about to back away when a proverbial light bulb seemed to come on. She leaned in again and whispered something else so quietly that only Marco could hear.

“You want me to say what?” Marco listened puzzled. “Isn’t that from that from…?” Star made a small sound of acknowledgement before she continued to eagerly whisper in his ear. Marco shrugged. “Alright. I’ll say it.”

Star picked him up under his arms and with a great heave, threw him high up into the air, where he cannonballed right into the waiting cannon!

Once he wiggled into position, Marco gave Star a thumb’s up. He was ready as he’d ever be.

“This is it, ladies and gentlemen! The moment you’ve all been waiting for! With this cigar,” she held the magic cigar aloft, “I will light the fuse to the cannon, which will then send the brave Marco Diaz flying through the air at top speeds!”

The audience giggled and chattered in anticipation.

A flying Earth boy? This ought to be good!

Star tapped the ashes off the cigar, then popped it in her mouth with a grin. She picked up the tail of the fuse, touching it to the sparkling embers of the cigar.

With a small puff of smoke, a pop and a hiss, the fuse jumped to life! A ball of sparks raced up leaving a trail of smoke behind it.

Star signalled Ruberiot to start the final drumroll. Nodding, Ruberiot conducted his band. The drums rolled more intense than ever. Ruberiot’s guitar playing a climactic riff for good measure.

Star announced to the crowd, and Marco as well, “Now don’t be alarmed, folks. It’s all perfectly safe. All we need to do now is count down to my good friend’s perfectly safe flight. Ready, everyone?!”

“READY!” the crowd yelled in unison.

“Three…”

Marco tensed his whole body, bracing himself for the blast.

“Two…”

Star plugged her ears, grinning with anticipation.

“ONE!”

The cannon blasted Marco with a grand “KABOOM!” and a glittering cloud of smoke. The Earth boy rocketed up into the air and straight through the canopy of the tent, screaming, “Looks like I’m blasting off AGAAAAIIIIIIN!” at the top of his lungs all the way.

Through the hole he left, Star and the audience could see Marco, still screaming, disappearing into the pink evening sky with a twinkle.

For a moment, astonished silence filled the tent. Everyone stared up at the hole and then…

The entire crowd, one and all, royal or not jumped to their feet to give Star, Marco, and their magnificent finale a grand round of applause. Everyone stood clapping and cheering, whooping, and hollering, a smile on every single one of their faces.

Star basked in their applause.

She did it. She really did! With the help of all her friends, and her determination she pulled off Mewni’s first and most spectacular circus. After everything that happened—everything that they’d been through—they got have some fun and make an entire kingdom smile again.

Seeing Pony Head, Tom, and Kelly peeking their heads from behind the curtain, Star beckoned them to come join her in the spotlight.

“Oh dang, that’s our cue!” Proclaimed Pony Head. “Alright, boys and girls, get out there! Move, move, move! I don’t wanna’ miss a second of that adoring praise!”

And so, all the performers in Star’s circus hurried out into the ring, lining up in front of the ringmaster and the cannon.

Everyone was there, not just Tom, Pony Head, and Kelly, but also Ruberiot, Foolduke, The Mime, Monkey Two, Hekapoo, Jorby, and even old King River came down, all waving to the happy audience. Then, they all took a bow as the crowd continued to shower them with another thunderous round of applause.

Star, however, seemed more than a little anxious. “Thank you so much, everyone! You’ve all been a wonderful audience! I couldn’t have done it without my wonderful friends! Okay, now if you’ll excuse me, I really gotta go, bye!”

Without wasting another second, she jumped into the cannon and using her magic blasted herself out of it right after Marco.

* * *

Marco soared over the Mewni countryside, still screaming his head off. He flew straight as an arrow, stiffened by both years of endurance training at his local strip mall dojo and—of course—mortal peril.

The scenery raced past him in a blur. All kinds of greens, pinks, blues, and whites blurred before his eyes.

He could feel himself slowly tilting downwards. He hoped that whatever Star had planned would happen soon.

Suddenly, something white and fluffy rushed past him, moving too fast for him to notice. He thought he saw someone atop it but that’s when he felt something snatch him by the arm. They grabbed him with such force it nearly yanked his arm out of its socket. He looked up in surprise.

“Wha—Star?!” he gasped.

“Don’t worry! I gotcha’, Marco!”

The princess nearly lost her balance, but she steadied herself and hoisted Marco up onto Cloudy with her, safe and sound.

Marco heaved a sigh of relief as he let himself melt into the comforting fluff of the cloud spell.

Star leaned overtop of him. Her face contorted by worry. “Marco are you…” she panted out of breath. “Are you alright?”

Marco looked up at her, his face blank. “Are you kidding?” He bolted upright, his face beaming. “I’m great! That was so cool! I flew out of a _CANNON_! I can’t believe I was scared at all!”

Star’s heart fluttered. Her cheek marks glowed pink as a great big smile spread across her face. “So, you really did like the circus?”

“Heck yeah, I did! I mean sure, I had my concerns here and there, but I had fun.”

He gave Star another big hug.

“Thanks, Star.”

Star, overcome with joy, hugged her best friend back almost twice as strong. “Aww, thank you, Marco! I couldn’t have done it without you!”

There they sat, holding their best friends in each other’s arms, in a moment of pure happiness. No drama. No danger. Just two best friends sharing a joyful embrace atop a smiling cloud flapping in the wind.

Cloudy let out gentle, “Awww!” which quickly brought Star and Marco back to reality.

After hastily awkwardly releasing each other with embarrassed laughter and awkwardly releasing each other with embarrassed laughter and some hurried small talk to change the subject.

Her eyes lit up with an idea. “Hey, you want to see one more surprise?”

“Are you kidding? Sure I do!”

Star took the cigar out of her mouth, which stayed put between her teeth even after being launched out of a cannon at high speeds and put it to the wand. Creating a tiny flickering flame from its faceplate, she held it up to the cigar which lit it up like it never had before. Star gestured at Marco to move over. “You might want to stand back for this one.”

She held the cigar up and it went flying like a rocket into the sky, creating a thick cloud of smoke behind it. It went screaming through the air right over the circus tent, where it exploded into one final firework—bigger, brighter, and even more colourful than all the ones that came before it. Star and Marco, as well as all the circusgoers and circus performers watched in awe as sparks in the shape of all Star’s favourite spells shone in every colour of the rainbow. Pink flying pigs, yellow laser puppies with red eyes, purple spiders in top hats, blue narwhals, green and pink butterflies, and more popping and sparkling in the sky against the violet sky for all to behold.

Star and Marco watched the grand finale in awe. When it was over, they looked to each other and noticed that they had been both covered in the dark purple soot from the magic cigarette’s take off. Though a little embarrassed, they broke out into another giggling fit and laughed it off.

Star instructed Cloudy to fly her and Marco back to Butterfly Castle nice and slow for Marco.

Gently, Cloudy drifted back to Star’s home while the two best friends happily discussed the circus. Marco praised Star’s inspired acts, eagerly inquiring about how she pulled this and that off and got who to agree to what. Star gabbing about her creative process and what strings she had to pull, her eyes alight with pride. The two of them just laughing at what the other one had to say. Marco even suggested that Star could blast him out of the cannon again for special occasions!

Marco felt a true sense of calmness coming over himself as he looked at the glorious warm glow of a sunset over Mewni.

“You know, Star… I’m really looking forward to summer break. No matter what happens.”

Star smiled at him, gazing at the sunset as well.

“Me too, Marco. Me too…”

**The End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so after many spectacular amusements and many more delays, the first circus on Mewni has come to a close.
> 
> I'd like to thank you all for attending both Mewni's first big top extravaganze as well as my first fanfic. Thank you to my friends, my requester, and to all you kind folks who left a review or marked this as a favourite for giving me the encouragement, the feedback, and the inspiration I needed to follow through and put on the best show that I (and by extent Star) could. And a big thanks to Daron Nefcy and the crew of Star vs. The Forces of Evil for creating these weird, wild characters to inspire me.
> 
> It's been a long road and a lot of work, but I can honestly say that I had a blast making this fanfic! (Pun intended. I have no regrets.)
> 
> Thank you all again for reading, and I hope you will continue to give my future works a look. Trust me: there are more shows where this came from. (*charming wink*)
> 
> Until then,
> 
> Write you later!
> 
> -The Dapper Critter

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, folks! My very first fanfic. Re-edited and re-uploaded for you good folks! This first part is a prologue of sorts--doubling as a lead up to the show and a fixfic resolving some dangling plot threads between The Battle For Mewni and Scent of a Hoodie that the timeskip made. While nothing astounding or fantastic happens in this chapter, rest assured. The excitement is on it's way!
> 
> Star vs. The Forces of Evil and it's characters is a creation and thus property of Daron Nefcy, Star's awesome crew, and Disney TV Animation. Not mine. (Just in case you were wondering.)


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